The further and continuing adventures of the girl who sat in the back of your homeroom, reading and daydreaming.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Armistice Day/Veteran's Day

It's not -- despite what the TV has been tellling me all this week -- just an excuse to have a sale. Possibly the only good thing the odious Woodrow Wilson accomplished (and it can be argued even that was an attempt to further mark his own "war to make the world safe for democracy," fought in alliance with the Kings of England [Emperor of India, etc. etc.], Italy, Belgium, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, the Emperor of Japan and the Czar of Russia [and King of Poland, etc.]). It doesn't matter who dreamed it up. In 1918, at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, the guns fell silent; not for very long, but who knew that? Death tolls were huge and the number of returning veterans was even larger; something more than a handshake and a final pay was in order.

Long before and long after that day, men (and eventually women) stepped up to serve in our military. You don't have to approve the wars they fought in (or missed, by accident of history) or admire the Commander in Chief on whose watch they served to honor their service. Right now, a lot of them are walking around with aftermarket parts acquired in the course of that service. It'd behoove the rest of us to stop and say, "Thank you."

"I saw to what extent the people among whom I lived could be trusted as good neighbors and friends; that their friendship was for summer weather only; that they did not greatly propose to do right; that they were a distinct race from me by their prejudices and superstitions."